Land-index.



No. 733,677. PATENTED JULY 14, 1903.

w. A. RAGLAND. LAND INDEX.

. APPLICATION FILED A1B 24, 1908. N0 MODEL.

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UNITED STATE Patented July 14, 1903.

PATENT Fries.

LAND-INDEX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 733,677 dated July 14, 1903.

Application filed April 24, 1903. Serial No. 154,174. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. RAGLAND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Texarkana, in the county of Miller and State of Arkansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Land-Indexes; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in indexing-cards to facilitate the indexing of records in relation to lands.

The nature of the invention will be readily comprehended, reference being had to the following specification, description of thedetails, construction, manner of use, and resulting advantages, and to the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a representation of an improved card for taking 01% county records to form an abstract of title to lands. Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are abstractleaves illustrated on the drawings to explain the use of card A, Fig. 1, if it is desired to make a book from the data compiled on said card A.

My invention is described as follows:

The object of the invention is to enable any one to index the records in which landtitles are recorded by the description of the lands instead of names.

My claims are to the abstract-slip, Fig. 1, herewith shown, by which all kinds of descriptions can be taken ofi the records without the changing off from one form to another, using the same kind of slip for any record. A copy of the slip or card is herewith shown, and reference thereto hereinafter made shall be designated as Form A. This Form A is used as follows: Suppose in taking a deed off the record-say in book A at page 325-the description of this should read as follows: All of lot 8, in block 9, in Jones addition to Boston, and also the northeast quarter of section 14, in township 12, of range 24, west, and also eighty acres in the Bill Johnson survey, abstract No. 321, certificate 4,352. The Form A must be marked, as described, to cover the entire description in full. For instance, if the conveyance is a deed, cross the word Deed and write under the word Book the number or letter on the book by which it is designated and under the word Page the number of the page on which the conveyance is recorded. In United States government land-surveys the number of the section, township, and range should be written after the words Section, Township, and Range, as designated, and if the entire northeast quarter is conveyed cross off the word Northeast; but if the northeast of the northeast only is conveyed cross out only the N. E. which is over the numeral 1, and so on with all other parts of the sections. If it be a town-lot conveyed, write the number of the lot after the word Lot and the number of the block after the words In block and write below these latter the name of the town and addition; but if it be a survey of State lands by which the surveys are designated by names, abstract and certificate numbers, then the description should be written as follows: The numbers of the abstract and certificate and name of the survey and the number of acres in the survey should be written after these words in the blanks designated for that purpose on the form. When one conveyance covers more than three parcels or two town-lots, I use more than one card, but putting the same number of book and page on them-for instance, if on Book A, page 325, (in which to indicate the record in which the instrument is recorded,) there was fiftytracts of land conveyed I use as many cards as necessary, but put the same number of book and page of the record on each card. Thus it will be seen that the Book A, page 325 will be on each card, locating it in the record the same.

Figs. 2 and 4 do not have Abstract No. 321 on them, as they are only intended to show the regular United States surveys by sections, and Fig. A only intended to show town-lots in regular surveyed town-plats, while Fig. 3 is intended to show grants that are described by metes and bounds, but are always designated by a number where old surveys of that kind were made before the United States surveyed the lands, as they were in most cases private surveys.

After all the records in the county have been taken 0E on similar slips I sort them up or classify them, so that all the slips for each survey or town-lots will be classed together, which collection makes an index of the cardsor slips known as Form A for the,

entire work. The object and intention of this Form A is to prepare an index to the landtitle records in any county or State without going to any other book.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A written or printed card for taking off instruments of record affecting the title to lands, having a column on its left-hand end divided into spaces by horizontal lines, said column containing the words in order as follows: Deed, Hort, Court, Book, and Page, and written in parallel lines on the upper part of the card Abstract No.

Certificate No. .Survey, No. acres below these, a line as follows: Section Township Range... and below this line,

divided into four spaces by vertical lines, each space containing the description of a quarter-section, with numerals 1, 2, 3, and 4, under N. E., N.WV., S. W., and S. 131., respectively and under these, the words and spaces Lot In block..'.... and under these a line, substantially as shown and described and for the purposes set forth.

2. A number of cards identically the same, each having a column on its left-hand end divided into spaces by horizontal lines, said column containing the words, Deed, Mort, Court, Book, and Page,one below the other in the order named; and in parallel lines on the upper part of the column the words and spaces, Abstract No. Certificate No Survey No. of acres. Section. Township Range in the order named; and below these lines, divided into four spaces by vertical lines, said spaces each containing the description of one of the four quarter sections and the quarters of the quarter-section of surveyed lands, with the numerals 1, 2, 3, and 4, under N. E. N. IV. S. W. and S. E. respectively; and under these, in one line, the words and spaces Lot In block and under this, a line, said cards to be used in taking cit the descriptions of deeds in books used by the different counties for the recording of deeds affecting titles to lands,

which, when properly aggregated, form an index to the land so abstracted, substantially as shown and described and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM A. RAGLAND. YVitnesses:

CLAUDE D. HEAD, J. P. SULLIVAN. 

